Miraculous: Short Tales
by Krazy Knight
Summary: A collection of short stories starring the cast and characters or Miraculous Ladybug. There will be humor, romance and drama, just not necessarily in each story. Tale 5: Is it Wrong to Want Revenge After a Funeral? Tale 6: How Truth or Dare Goes Wrong.
1. Chapter 1

**Miraculous: Short Tails er Tales**

 **A collection of short unconnected stories for you to enjoy.** **I'll try to keep a list of the stories at the top of the first one so you can decide what looks interesting to read.**

 _ **This is the standard disclaimer that goes on most if not all fan fictions about ownership and so forth.**_

 **Tale 1 – Marinette & Cat Noir in "Flirting"**

Tale 2 – Nathalie Sancoeur & Emilie Agreste in Roomates

Tale 3 – Marinette, Cat Noir & Chloe in Betrayal

Tale 4 - Adrien Agreste & Marinette in Altered Ladybug (in the spirit of How It Should Have Ended)

Tale 5 - Cat Noir & Ladybug in "Is it Wrong to Want Revenge After a Funeral?"

Tale 6 - Adrien, Marinette, Nino, Alya, Rose and Juleka in How Truth or Dare Goes Wrong.

* * *

 **Marinette & Cat Noir in "Flirting"**

"Rescued again by our dashing young hero in black leather and cat ears, huh, Marinette." Ayla commented when she found Marinette after the most recent Akuma attack. Marinette turned and looked at her with a frown.

"I could have gotten away on my own." She complained. **_And Ladybug could have shown up faster if I had_** , she added in her thoughts.

"Yeah but I think he likes rescuing you." Ayla teased. Marinette rolled her eyes. "So, how does it feel to be the only normal girl Cat Noir flirts with?" She asked holding up her phone to record her.

"He doesn't flirt with me." Marinette growled.

"Whatever you say, _Princess_." Ayla laughed with extra emphasis placed on princess. Marinette rubbed her face in an irritated manner.

* * *

 **Break**

* * *

Marinette leaned against the railing of the balcony above her room looking out over the Paris landscape. It was just after three in the morning, most of the lights of the buildings were off allowing the stars to shine through the sky. She sighed contently, or at least as contently as someone who couldn't fall sleep could be.

"Fancy meeting you here." She heard a voice say behind her. She let out a scream and turned around, throwing a startled punch at the voice. Cat Noir's eyes went wide as he just barely managed to avoid her fist. "A little jumpy aren't you?" He asked.

"What do you expect when you sneak up on someone on their roof?" She asked annoyed. He tried not to smile, he tried really hard not to.

"You have a point." He replied.

"What are you doing here ruining my peaceful night in the first place?" She asked, clearly irritated with the cat themed super hero.

"I saw you while I was out patrolling. You looked pretty peaceful, so I figured I'd. . . "He paused and grinned, "scare the snot out of you." Her hand went immediately up to her nose checking to make sure she wasn't snotting. It caused him to laugh, and she frowned.

"You're a jerk." She replied.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself." He stated.

"I figured. Just like I figure you aren't actually patrolling, but catting around."

"Oh you made a cat pun, Princess." He laughed. She frowned again. "Is something wrong?"

"Do you flirt with me?" She asked seriously.

"No, of course not." He replied immediately.

"My best friend Ayla, you know the girl who runs the Ladyblog. "She paused a moment before questionsing. "Are you familiar with the LadyBlog?"

"Of course I am, it's where I get most of my photos of Ladybug." He admitted.

"That's creepy." She remarked.

"Ouch, I'm the cat but you're the one with the claws." Marinette shook her head, but Cat Noir could see her lips twitching up as she fought against another smile.

"So what about your friend?" He asked.

"She was teasing me today."

"What kind of teasing?" He asked with a wink.

"I don't even want to know what you're thinking." She stated before continuing. "She was teasing me because according to her, I'm the only normal girl you flirt with. So I was wondering if you are flirting with me."

"Of course not Prince. . ." He paused a moment. Marinette smirked.

"Exactly what she was talking about. Every time you rescue me, you call me Princess. She's heard it enough times now that she considers it flirting."

"I have nicknames I use with most of the girls I rescue." He retorted. "Like that one. No wait, how about that one, no, um Chloe, I've pulled her bacon out of the fire often and I call her." He paused again his sparkling green eyes widening. "Holy wet hairballs!" He cried.

"Eww." Marinette commented.

"You are the only girl I call by a nickname." He realized and sat down on the chair that was up there.

"So, does that mean you flirt with me?" She asked, now she was smirking a little.

"I really don't know." His confusion was evident. She sat down across from him.

"Well, I guess if you're going to call me princess, then I should come up with a nickname for you." She laughed. "I think I'll start to call you kitten whenever you call me princess."

"Kitten? Why not kitty cat?"

"That's Ladybug's nickname for you isn't it? I don't want to steal her lines."

"Well Kitten is a bit childish don't you think?"

"Yes, and that's what makes it perfect for you." She laughed. He shook his head this time and stood up.

"Whatever you want, _Princess_." He said as he pulled out his staff to vault away.

"Until next time _Kitten_." She laughed back.

* * *

 **BREAK**

* * *

"Okay girl, what is going on with you and Cat Noir?" Ayla asked as she pulled Marinette aside. It had been more then a month since she had spoken to Cat Noir on her rooftop balcony.

"What are you talking about?" Marinette asked confused.

"Oh I don't know, _Princess_ , it might have to do with you suddenly calling him _Kitten_. You even held your hand out to him to kiss it."

"Oh, that. It's no big deal. I figured if he's going to be all flirty with me and calling me Princess, I would start to call him Kitten." She explained.

"So to counter his flirting, you're flirting back with him?" Ayla sounded amazed by that idea, and not in a good way.

"Pretty much. It serves that tom cat right, doesn't it?"

"You know, Marinette, as your friend, I have to say, you really need help. You're like crazy in love with Adrien, and can't even string two words together without tripping over your own tongue, and yet here you are flirting with Cat Noir, Cat Noir of all people. It's just so wrong." She finished taking a breath. Marinette Laughed.

"Oh please, it's not like either of us take it seriously. He seemed amused when I mentioned it to him."

"When did you do that?"

"When he was on my balcony a few weeks ago." The words escaped her mouth before she could stop them.

"A few weeks ago? So he's visiting you?"

"Only by accident and because he was patrolling and saw me hanging out on my balcony." She didn't mention the couple other times since then. She really didn't want to give Ayla any more ideas.

"You do realize you're blushing, right?" Ayla observed. Marinette blinked in confusions but she could feel a slight heat in her cheeks.

"I am not." She lied.

"Hey Marinette, Hey Ayla." A familiar voice called out form behind Marinette. She turned around and smiled.

"Hi Adrien, how are you?" Marinette asked smiling.

"I'm great, thanks for asking. What are you guys discussing?"

"Oh Ayla is convinced that Cat Noir keeps flirting with me when he rescues me."

"That does seem to happen a lot lately." He laughed. The two continued to talk for a while before Nino grabbed Adrien and dragged him off. Ayla looked at Marinette strangely.

"Okay, who are you and what did you do with the real Marinette." She exclaimed and started to poke and prod her.

"Ayla, stop, don't do that." Marinette cried and laughed as Ayla kept hitting ticklish spots.

* * *

 **BREAK**

* * *

"I can't believe that Ayla thinks I'm in love with Cat Noir." Marinette complained as she sat on her balcony talking to Tikki.

"Really, you can't?" Tikki countered. "You're blushing right now even as you say it. You've even taken down most of your Adrien photos. At least you haven't replaced them with Cat Noir ones though."

"I um, I um." The elegance of Marinette's words was lost on Tikki.

"I can't even think of the last time you mentioned Adrien to me."

"Really?" Marientte asked confused. "Okay, lets say I have falling for our black cat in the night, why is it I still reject his advances as Ladybug?" She asked and paused. She hadn't needed to reject him lately.

"You've finally noticed that too haven't you?" Tikki asked.

"He hasn't made any advances on Ladybug for the last couple of weeks." Marinette's voice faltered as she said it and she even physically deflated into her deck chair. "What's going on with us?" She asked after a few minutes of quiet.

"With who Pricness?" She heard a familiar voice ask. Tikki ducked under the table as Cat Noir came into sight. Marinette let out a little scream and fell off the chair startled.

"You need to stop sneaking up on me. One of these nights, I'm going to hit you." With Cat Noir coming around so often, She and Tikki needed to be more careful when outside. He slipped down and sat on the edge of the makeshift table and smiled.

"You can try Princess." He grinned. She frowned and then smacked him on the leg, hard. "Ow."

"I don't try, I do." She laughed.

"Forgive me Jedi Master Marinette Dupain-Cheng." He joked.

"Hey Kitten?" She asked. "Do you have feelings for me?" Her face heated up with the deep blush she was feeling as she asked. Cat Noir was taken by surprise and slipped off the table to land on the floor.

"Where does that come from?" He asked with a slight groan.

"It's just, I noticed that you weren't flirting with Ladybug anymore." She quickly added, "at least in public. I guess you could be doing it in private where people wouldn't see." Marinette found it a little amusing to see him open his mouth to protest, then stop, then watch his eyes get a little wider, then open his mouth again with no sound coming out. "You didn't realize it until just now, did you?" She asked. It felt a more then a little good to be able to use some of the lines that were used on her, on him.

"Yeah, I didn't." He replied and looked at her. "I guess, I don't know how I feel about you exactly. I mean, I do like you, obviously since I've been visiting you so much, and it's true I've really enjoyed flirting with you once I realized I was doing it."

"I figured as much. I hadn't realized how much I was enjoying your flirtation, and flirting back with you, until Ayla pointed it out to me today. There was a boy in my school that I really liked, and I realized today that I haven't really thought about him in weeks, I've been thinking about you instead, and trust me, that confession is really hard for me to make."

"Easier for you then me apparently." He said a little sadly.

"It's okay Kitten." Marinette replied with a smile. "This just came down on you suddenly. I've had the entire day to think about it, although to be honest, seeing you here tonight is what really made me realize it. Sure you scared me when you first surprised me tonight, but my heart hasn't slowed down it's beating yet." She moved over towards him and knelled next to his side. She took his face in her hands and pulled him close and kissed his forehead.

"I have feelings for you Cat Noir, I'm not ready to call it love, but I'm willing to see where this goes." She whispered in his ear, sending a jolt of electricity through his body. "Don't worry Kitten, I don't expect an answer right now." She smiled again and pulled away from him and grinned. "I'll give you five minutes to decide."

* * *

 **BREAK**

* * *

The time limit had been a joke, and he knew that. She'd even confirmed when he'd gotten all flustered about it about thirty seconds after she said it. She even apologized for the joke. The thing was, at that moment he was ready to agree with her, but he didn't do it. He was reacting to her then, not really thinking about it. He would have agreed with to go out with Chloe at that moment if she'd asked. Okay, that was an exaggeration. He knew Chloe too well to ever actually date her. They were too much like brother and sister, at least while they were growing up.

Adrien shook his head. He was trying to distract himself from the question at hand. Did Cat Noir, well him, have those kinds of feelings for Marinette? He rested on the couch in his room, a leg draped off the side while he was holding one of his Ladybug action figures. He looked intently at her, trying to see if he felt anything. He use to feel a lot just looking at the figure, but this time, there wasn't really much there. Somehow over the last couple of weeks, his feelings for her had changed.

"Thinking about a girl kid?" Plagg asked as he chomped on a chunk of cheese.

"Geez, Plagg what have I said about talking with you mouth full of that stink?" Adrien complained making an exaggerated gagging noise. Plagg just shook his head. "So, are you thinking of Ladybug or are you thinking about Marinette?"

"Both actually. I hadn't realized how much my time with her as Cat Noir had meant to me." He admitted and rolled onto his side. "She occupies my mind more then Ladybug now. I didn't even realize that would happen. I think the next time I see her as Cat Noir, I'll let her know." He smiled and laughed a little.

"You know, she mentioned a boy in school that she used to have a crush on," He started as he set the Ladybug figure on the table and sat up. "Wouldn't it be ironic if her crush had been on me?" He added with a laugh. Plagg just rolled his eyes.

"I think if that were the case, it would make you an idiot." Plagg replied and under his breath so Adrien couldn't hear it, added. "Idiot."

* * *

 **BREAK**

* * *

"You stopped flirting with Cat Noir. I'm so proud of you." Ayla commented after another Akuma attack aimed at Marinette.

"Well, I thought about what you'd said a couple of weeks ago and decided you were right. I shouldn't flirt with him just because he flirts with me." Marinette spoke sounding just a little sad.

"Are you okay?" Ayla asked softly, noting Marinette's change in mood.

"Yeah I guess. It's just you know, once I stopped and told him I was stopping, he stopped too. I kind of miss it you know. It was nice having a guy flirt with me." She admitted.

"Oh Girl, I'm sorry." Ayla gave her a hug.

"Thanks."

"Nino and I are going to a movie tonight, do you want to come with us?" She asked.

"No, I don't want to feel like a third wheel. Go enjoy yourselves." She smiled.

* * *

 **BREAK**

* * *

It had been weeks earlier when Cat Noir had come to discuss with her the feelings he had for her, to give her the answer to her feelings she'd admitted to him.

"Hey Kitten." She'd said when she noticed him. She'd obviously been looking for him, since he wasn't able to sneak up on her.

"Hey Marinette." He said softly, almost sadly. Her smile turned downward into a frown and the breath she'd taken in stayed in. He walked over to her. "I've thought about what we'd discussed.." His voice was so lacking in excitement. Marinette could feel some tears start to form in her eyes. She knew it was possible that he'd reject her, but she hadn't realized how bad that would actually feel. He refused to look her in the eyes as he talked. "And I've thought long and hard about what you've said about your feelings for me, and I have an answer for you."

* * *

 **BREAK**

* * *

She shouldn't have been out as late as she was, but Marinette still wondered around the streets of Paris until she found the spot she was looking for. She took a moment to double check the basket she'd packed before sneaking out of her house.

"Welcome Princess." A familiar voice called out to her.

"Hello Kitten." She replied with a smile. "I brought dinner." She stated holding up the basket. He smiled.

"Did you bring your macaroons?" He asked.

"Of course I did, for me. None for you, Kitten."

"Seriously, it's been weeks. Can't you forgive me?" He pleaded.

"You're lucky I'm just keeping desert from you Cat Noir. Making me think you were about to break my heart before kissing me? If I hadn't been so stunned by that, I would have hit you. . . A lot."

"Please Princess." He begged as he held out his hand. She took it shaking her head as he set his pole out and extended it so the pair could go up to a nearby rooftop. Cat Noir had already set up a makeshift table and seats for them to use. Mariette started to set out the meal she'd prepared. She smiled as she looked at Cat Noir again.

She still felt a little guilty for making Ayla think she was no longer flirting with Cat Noir, although technically under the circumstances, it wasn't really a lie. She did miss the flirting when he'd rescue her. She still felt guilty about not telling him who she really was too. She did feel more justified in that, simply because, since Cat Noir had stopped flirting with Ladybug, he'd been a more serious crime fighter. At least that was part of it. The other part was, she didn't really want to share him with Ladybug, even if Ladybug was still her. She liked getting the attention as Marinette. It made her feel special, although she'd decided that if he told her his identity she'd tell him hers.

Cat Noir had some similar issues, at least when it came to his identities. He knew Marinette in his civilian life. It would have been so easy to tell her who he was, and they could have a normal relationship. Heck, he was under the impression that both Ayla and Nino would have jumped for joy if he asked Marinette out. The problem was, he wasn't sure how Marinette felt about him. They'd gotten off to a rocky start, but had become friends. He was afraid she might reject him if she knew the truth and he'd lose that friendship. The catch twenty-two was, the longer he waited, the harder it was to tell her.

She'd told him that she would wait until he was ready, and assured him, she wouldn't reject him because of who he was, that is unless he'd some how turned out to be Chloe. Still, he was unsure of himself. He had to laugh at it really. He was a world famous male model that lacked the confidence to tell the girl he loved that he loved her. Instead he continued to see her as his alter ego.

Marinette finished the setting by lighting a couple of candles. She took his hand and pulled him close and slowly kissed him.

"I love you Cat Noir." She whispered, as they pulled apart.

"I loved you too, Marinette Dupain-Cheng." He whispered back.

"You're still not getting any macaroons." She whispered in response.

"Awww."He pouted.

 **FIN**

* * *

 **BONUS**

A future conversation that could occur in days, weeks, months, but likely in just over a year later while Nino and Adrien are playing a video game.

"Dude, Ayla and I are really surprised that you and Marinette never got together. We thought for sure you would."

"Yeah, I could tell you guys were pushing me towards that, but I never really understood why you guys were." He admitted.

"It's because Marientte use to have the biggest crush on you."

"Wait, what?"

"You must have been the only person in class who didn't realize that." Nino laughed and looked at Adrien. "Dude, are you okay? Adrien? Bro, speak to me. I know you're white, but you're not suppose to look like a ghost man."

* * *

 **NOTES:**

I had done a collection of Short Stories called **_"Miraculous: Le Balcon (The Balcony)"._** It started with a Story about Marinette and Cat Noir, so I find it great to start a new Short Story collection with a story about Marinette and Cat Noir. I hope you enjoyed this and will continue to read the additional stories I put in place.


	2. Chapter 2

**Miraculous: Short Tails er Tales**

Tale 1 – Marinette & Cat Noir in "Flirting"

 **Tale 2 – Nathalie Sancoeur & Emilie Agreste in Roomates**

Tale 3 – Marinette, Cat Noir & Chloe in Betrayal

Tale 4 - Adrien Agreste & Marinette in Altered Ladybug (in the spirit of How It Should Have Ended)

Tale 5 - Cat Noir & Ladybug in "Is it Wrong to Want Revenge After a Funeral?"

Tale 6 - Adrien, Marinette, Nino, Alya, Rose and Juleka in How Truth or Dare Goes Wrong.

* * *

Another anniversary morning, and she'd woken up again with the phantom feeling of her lover's arms around her in bed. Nathalie could feel the slight stinging of the as of yet unshed tears in her eyes. She rolled over looking at the spot where the memory phantom had been with no obvious trace of anyone being there. She sometimes wondered if she should be concerned about these moments, but they only occurred a handful of days every year, their birthdays, and the anniversary of her lover's death.

She rolled back over, not wanting to face the world, even thought she knew she needed too. The boy would need her today, and honestly she needed him, even if he didn't realize it. After all Adrien was her lover's son and with this being the official anniversary of Emilie's death, he would need someone to comfort him as well. It wasn't like his father would be there. That bastard will just wallow in his own self pity party and probably make an extra bit of effort to akumatize some depressed fool and fail to get Lady Bug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses.

When Emilie had died on the trip Gabriel had planned as a way for her and him to reconnect, Nathalie had been heartbroken. She'd been Emilie's personal assistant for years, helping her with her Modeling Career and also going through scripts for possible movie rolls. She still thought it was too bad Emilie had only done the one movie, when they'd had three others lined up for her in the next year. For a man as cold as Gabriel always seemed to be, Nathalie had been surprised he wanted to do the trip with his wife. She would never had suspected the man would actually set aside his designing for something so "Frivolous".

Emilie had trusted Nathalie to take care of Adrien while they were gone, and she'd agreed. Although she felt she had little use for children, he was Emilie's son, and thus somewhat important to Nathalie. When Gabriel had returned from the trip, Nathalie had been fully prepared to leave the employment of the Agreste home, however Gabriel had asked her to stay on as Adrien's governess. She debated not doing it, after all she truly disliked the man, but again it was for Emilie's son so she agreed. At that time Adrien had been eight years old.

* * *

 **BREAK**

* * *

Gabriel had little to do with Nathalie or Adrien for a couple years. Again, since she did not care about Gabriel herself, she was fine with him giving little attention to her, but to give so little attention to Emilie's son, that was unforgivable. She marched up to him in his office and didn't even wait for him to say anything. She started to berate him for his utter lack of interest in his son. He sat listening, pressing his fingertips together while holding them up to his chin.

"You are somewhat correct in that I have not taken as much personal interest in my son as I should. I have been working to correct that by starting a youth clothing line, that I will have him model." He'd told her. She frowned a little. "I have already spoken to him about it, last night in fact. He has agreed." She let out a breath she had been holding in her anger. "However, I must discuss with you a change in your employment status." Nathalie had been expecting something like this for a while. She certainly did not give him the "respect" he believed he deserved. She smirked slightly.

"I shall endeavor to remove my things from the room you've given me to use as a place to stay and office area." She remarked. She maintained her own apartment but even when she worked for Emilie she had a room for overnight stays.

"You misunderstand me, Nathalie, I am not terminating your employment, I am promoting you to my personal assistant, and assigning you to help with a very special project." His lips had the barest hint of a smile. **_Dear God, please don't have him proposition me._** She thought but before she could comment, he continued. "It is a very secret project that you can not speak to anyone about, not if we are to get the result I'm sure we both want. What is wrong with him? This is sounding worse and worse every moment. How could he even believe there is anything we'd want the same result in?

"I'm sorry Gabriel but I will need to decline your disturbing offer." She remarked with a sneer. She considered herself to have a wonderful poker face, but she was having a great deal of difficulty controlling her emotions.

"I'm disappointed in you and I'm sure Emilie will be as well." He stated nonchalantly. She froze. **_What does Emilie have to do with anything, she's dead, I saw the body at the wake._** Those thoughts went through her head, however her actual response to him was to quickly lean over his desk and yank him over it.

"How dare you bring her into this you unfeeling bastard?" She yelled. She knew Gabriel had his home office soundproofed so she had no fear of upsetting Adrien or attacking the attention of the Gorilla. He only smiled at her.

"I dare my dear Nathalie, because I want to bring her back to us, all of us." He said his voice showing a little hint of excitement." She let go of him, letting him drop back into his seat.

"You're insane. You can't bring anyone back from the dead." She stated and turned away.

"Not yet I can't, but with your help I can." She turned back to him, letting her anger continue to show.

"What, are you going to clone her? Will you make one for yourself, her son and me?" She asked.

"Now that is just ridiculous. I will use an ancient magic to bring her back."

"Oh my God!" She shouted at him. "I am grabbing her son and taking him to the authorities, clearly you littler lost your mind." She rushed towards the door.

"Nooroo, please lock the door." Gabriel stated calmly. Nathalie saw a little purple butterfly-looking thing fly past her and to the door locking it. Nathalie practically fell over as she skidded to a halt. So much had happened that she couldn't help herself. She let out a scream and fainted.

* * *

 **BREAK**

* * *

Nathalie had joined with Gabriel after that incident. She also started to act a little more respectful towards him, not that she felt more respectful, but because she believed there was a chance he could bring Emilie back and she did not want Gabriel to have her afterwards. He did not deserve her not after everything that had happened. She deserved to have Emilie back.

She prepared herself to get ready for work. Adrien had a photo shoot after school. She always tried to keep him busy on the anniversary of Emilie's death. After he was done she would take him to visit her marker. Still she still needed a little more time to herself to remember Emilie.

* * *

 **BREAK**

* * *

"Oh god, oh god, please don't let me be pregnant" Emilie panicked as she was pacing with her pregnancy test. Nathalie rolled her eyes. The pair had been roommates at University for a couple of months, and both were a little promiscuous, Nathalie more so then Emilie. In fact if Nathalie was a man, she would have been known as a womanizer.

"Calm down Emilie." Nathalie sighed. "It's not going to finish any faster by you pacing."

"I know, I know. Why did I sleep with him, why? He wasn't even attractive." She frowned.

"I believe you said he had a really large. . ." Emilie cut her off with a look. She heard the timer she'd set go off. "Well, what's the answer? Are you preggers?"

"It's negative, thank God." Emilie cried.

"What about the other 3 or 4 different tests you purchased?" Nathalie asked with a smile.

"That's right, I need to check those too." Emilie ran back to the bathroom. Nathalie slithered to her feet and followed Emilie into the bathroom and gently put her hands on her shoulders and looking over.

"All negative. I think you're in the clear, Em."

"I am so happy right now." Emilie admitted. "I want to have kids but I'd rather wait until after university."

"Uh huh, you'll be sleeping with the next guy within two weeks." Nathalie chided. Emilie growled a little. "Although you know there are other options with your appetite." Nathalie purred in Emilie's ear. "Instead of going after the men, you could always sate yourself on women instead. I would certainly be willing to volunteer my services." Her voice was seductive, up until she started to laugh. Emilie wasn't laughing though.

"Are you serious?" Emilie asked as she turned to face her friend and roommate. Nathalie couldn't tell if she was angry or not, she couldn't read Emilie's expression at all. She involuntarily took a few steps back. Emilie stalked up to her as she backed into a wall. Emilie placed one hand against the wall on the side of Nathalie's head and stared into her eyes and then smirked.

"Geez, you had me fre . . ." Emilie pressed her lips to Nathalie's and kissed her deeply. Nathalie felt herself melt. That was when their arrangement started. Whenever either of them felt like having a little carnal fun, they went to each other. Originally Nathalie didn't allow the arrangement to affect her own desires, but she found herself ignoring the women she'd been womanizing previously. During their summer break she finally had to admit it to herself. She'd fallen in love with Emilie.

Unfortunately, when they returned to university, Emilie had an announcement to make.

"I've fallen in love." She twirled around the room, the skirt of the dress she wore billowed out around her. Nathalie felt her breath hitch at the sight. She'd been debating if she should tell Emilie how she felt, but when the words her lover had said hit her, she froze. **_Did she come to the same realization I have?_**

"His name is Gabriel Agreste, and he's a fashion designer, or starting out as one." Nathalie could hear the sound of her heart shattering into billions of pieces.

* * *

 **BREAK**

* * *

"Nathalie, You aced all of your business management classes didn't you?" Emilie asked as the pair shared a table at the local café. After Graduation, they'd sworn to get together at least once a month to catch up and had done so for the last year.

"Of course." Nathalie replied annoyed by the question.

"Great, I want you to be my personal assistant slash manager slash agent."

"What? You twit, you know those are three very different jobs don't you?" Nathalie said with a roll of her eyes. Emilie gave her puppy dog eyes as she clasped her hands under her chin, with a slight tilt of her head.

"I know, but you're the only one I trust with my modeling career." She pleaded.

"Oh, what about Gabriel?" Nathalie sniped.

"Well, since I'll be working for him, I don't think it's appropriate for him to manage me. I don't think the husband should manage his wife's career." She spoke with a little smile and placed her left hand clearly in view.

"Husband? Wife? What?" Nathalie saw the large engagement ring on her former lovers finger.

"We're getting married." Emilie cried out excitedly. **_Oh Joy_** , Nathalie thought but forced a smile.

"You're invited too. Of course, I want you to be my maid of honor, oh and you should see the wedding dresses he's designing for me to choose from, oh my god, they are beautiful, and the bride's maids' dresses will also be gorgeous and not hideous like so many other I've seen."

"Slow down and breathe, Em. If you pass out here, I'm going to leave you under the table with the check." This time Emilie rolled her eyes.

"So will you do it? Gabriel has agreed to give you our own room with an office in the mansion." Nathalie sighed. She really didn't want to, but she already felt that Emilie and herself were growing apart. She still hoped to win Emilie's heart back, but that seemed so much more unlikely with the upcoming wedding.

"Fine, but it's going to cost you big. I expect a nice paycheck and benefits, especially since I'll be doing the job of three people." Emilie nodded in agreement.

"If you asked for less, I would have been disappointed in you."

* * *

 **BREAK**

* * *

Nathalie stood out on the balcony of her apartment looking over at the rising sun, wearing just her knee length negligee. Her apartment was high enough above street level that she wasn't concerned about any passerby's seeing her so provocatively dressed, not that it would have mattered to her. When not working for the Agreste family, she dressed in a much less severe style. In fact, she'd even passed by the boy on the street without him recognizing her and was fairly certain Gabriel wouldn't recognize her either. She liked that kind of anonymity.

She finished preparing herself for the day, hoping that she would have time to go to the lap pool at the waterpark to get some exercise in, when she was finished with her job duties. Sometimes thought she wondered why she bought the yearlong pass, when she was lucky to even get there once a week. She frowned and considered her day. She would take public transportation to the stop nearest the Agreste mansion and walk the rest of the way. She knew Gabriel could easily learn where she lived if he wanted to, but that didn't mean she wanted the Gorilla picking her up from her apartment. She wanted to feel as separate from him as she could.

Once she made it to the mansion she went about her normal duties, before heading towards Gabriel's office where she paused hearing voices inside. Of course the voices were in the earpiece she wore from the bug she'd planted in his office. There would be no way to hear inside there otherwise with the soundproofing.

One was Gabriel and the other was Nooroo. It sounded not exactly like an argument, but not exactly a discussion.

"Please Master, I wish you would reconsider your plans." Nooroo stated. Nathalie smiled. She liked the little Kwami and felt sorry for him having to deal with Gabriel.

"I have had enough of these talks with you Nooroo."

"But Master, who are you going to trade to bring back your wife?" Nathalie frowned. This was information she didn't know anything about. "It has to be someone who loved her. I can't believe you would sacrifice your son for it."

"Of course not. Don't be ridiculous. Emilie would never forgiver me for that." He huffed.

"Yourself?" The Kwami seemed surprised by the idea.

"No. Myself and my son are not the only ones who love her." Nathalie shook her head, of course he would put himself first and be grammatically wrong. "Why do you think I keep Nathalie around?" She froze hearing that. "It's her fault my wife is dead. Had she not seduced her, I would never have taken Emilie on that trip and she'd still be alive today. No, Nathalie will be the sacrifice." Gabriel chuckled.

Nathalie rushed away from the office and went to get Adrien ready for school. She took deep breaths to remain calm. She wasn't stupid enough to blame herself for the death of Emilie. Certainly, Emilie and herself had rekindled their relationship. While Emilie had been pregnant, Gabriel had been more distant and cold, mostly Nathalie believed, because she could no longer model for his designs. Then after she gave birth she did not lose her baby weight quick enough for his liking. Nathalie hadn't attempted to seduce her, but Emilie had come to her and she'd taken advantage of the situation, even trying to talk Emilie into grabbing her son and taking off with her. She was never willing to go that far though.

* * *

 **BREAK**

* * *

Nathalie continued to work for Gabriel even after learning what he had planned for her. She wanted to find a way to turn it to her advantage and continued to plot. She wasn't willing to leave Emilie with Gabriel when she was brought back from the dead, and if it never happened, she didn't want to leave the boy in his hands either.

When the Agrest household, Gabriel, Adrien, the Gorilla and Nathalie returned to the mansion after one of the Gabriel's fashion shows with Adrien as the main model, they found the front door was ajar. The Gorilla went in to investigate shortly followed by a very impatient Gabriel. Nathalie stayed back with Adrien, keeping him out of harms way, while calling the police.

Whoever had broken into the mansion had been very professional. They'd taken the panting's that were valuable, destroyed the others, including the one of the family that covered one of the hidden safes, the one that held the Miraculous Spell Book and the Peacock Pin. Gabriel was livid and Adrien was trying to calm him down to avoid another Akuma situation.

The second hidden safe, which was in the office, was also found, opened and looted. Gabriel went over the video footage that was captured and saw the criminals going over everything, and into every room. The found the first safe when removing paintings to take. A safecracker worked on it for about 20 minutes before opening it. They watched as a couple of different "burglars" worked on the two computers in Gabriel's office. One computer had only two things on it, the designs for the line he was currently working on, and the images of the Miraculous Spell Book. That computer had been hacked into. It appeared the information was copied then deleted. Something was loaded onto the computer, and before they left, they pulled out the hard drive and destroyed it. That computer was not connected to the Internet in any way, so there was no way to access it from outside. The other computer was connected to the Internet and was used for all the basic needs one would need to in an office. They treated it the same way.

They even attempted to remove the painting that was part of his hidden lair, but had no luck even moving it. Instead, they vandalized it. Gabriel was glad they had not found his secret, but he had gone to great lengths to make certain no one could. Still, he was seething with anger.

"This was not a common burglary." He stated confidently and in anger. Lieutenant Roger Raincomprix looked at him.

"It's not, is there something specific you think they were after?"

"Yes you fool." His voice was full of anger. "They were after my designs. This is obviously corporate espionage. There is no reason for them to do this much damage to my computers and hard drives if they were just trying to steal from me! I want you to investigate all of my rivals, especially that sea cow, Audrey Bourgeois! This seems like the kind of despicable thing she would do."

"Sir, please calm down." Lieutenant Raincomprix, spoke trying to use a calm and soothing voice. Gabriel looked ready to explode.

It wasn't until after noon the next day that the police and other investigative authorities finished with the Mansion. Adrien was heartbroken at the destruction of the paintings and photos of his mother, and Nathalie did what she could to comfort him. Not that she was particularly good at it. Adrien did seem to be grateful for her attempts. They both avoided Gabriel.

* * *

 **BREAK**

* * *

Life at the Agreste Mansion had become hard. Gabriel was concerned about the theft and espionage and had Nathalie contact a number of private investigators to look into his fashion rivals as well as to go to pawn shops and property fencers to get back as much as they could. Some items were recovered, but there was no luck recovering his data, or the Peacock Pin and Miraculous Spell Book. Gabriel was angry, too angry to even attack Paris. His own emotions were too strong to get a butterfly sent out to evilize anyone. Nathalie continued to work as normal, and Adrien continued with school as normal.

After a particularly rough day more then three weeks after the burglary, Nathalie managed to get to the water park to swim laps. She loved the feeling of the water against her body, letting the coolness of it sooth her aches. Once she finished, she went to her locker and got her belongings. Then she went to the locker next to hers and opened it as well, pulling out a package. That too was placed in her bag. She went home to her apartment.

She prepared herself for bed, closing all the blinds and slipping into her favorite negligee before checking a small device that was designed to look for certain types of electronic devices. Once she was sure everything was clear, she opened up the package from the locker revealing the Peacock Pin and the Miraculous Spell Book. Her lips curved into the happiest smiles she'd worn since Emilie had passed away.

 **Fin**

* * *

 **Note:**

This was started before the Queen's Battle Story Arc. I like having Nathalie think of Adrien as either "the boy" of "her (Emilie) Son". It denotes her level of affection towards him at the time.


	3. Chapter 3

**Miraculous: Short Tails er Tales**

 **A collection of short unconnected stories for you to enjoy.** **I'll try to keep a list of the stories at the top of the first one so you can decide what looks interesting to read.**

Tale 1 – Marinette & Cat Noir in "Flirting"

Tale 2 – Nathalie Sancoeur & Emilie Agreste in Roomates

 **Tale 3 – Marinette, Cat Noir & Chloe in Betrayal**

Tale 4 - Adrien Agreste & Marinette in Altered Ladybug (in the spirit of How It Should Have Ended)

Tale 5 - Cat Noir & Ladybug in "Is it Wrong to Want Revenge After a Funeral?"

Tale 6 - Adrien, Marinette, Nino, Alya, Rose and Juleka in How Truth or Dare Goes Wrong.

* * *

There comes a time when you have an idea, and it seems like a good idea at the time, but it's really not. I watched as Ladybug finished off the villain, captured the Akuma, and tossed up the lucky charm to fix all the damages that had occurred. She went to do our traditional fist bump and realized I wasn't next to her.

"Cat Noir?" She asked as she looked around. She saw that I was still on the ground behind her. My hand was on my side, fingers coated in a bright red liquid. Her eyes widened in horror as she rushed over.

"Sorry, My Lady, I guess the lucky charm wasn't able to fix everything." I stated, my voice sounding weak and a little gravely. Her earrings started to beep. I had not needed to use my Cataclysm attack, so I was in no danger of transforming back.

"I'll call an ambulance, we'll get you fixed." I coughed a bit and gave her a charming little smile.

"Thank you my lady." I whispered weakly. "But If there is a chance I could."

"Don't say it Cat Noir, don't you dare say it." She had tears in her eyes. I was really starting to feel guilty for putting her though this.

"If there is a chance, please, can I see your true face." I asked. She nodded, barely even thinking about it. I'd expected her to deny me, to be honest. I didn't even have to time react before I heard her speak.

"Spots off Tikki." And she de transformed. I knew there was a chance that I would know who Ladybug's true identity was, so I thought I was prepared for it, but I wasn't. I wouldn't say she was the last person I would have expected, but she was actually closer to that then me suspecting her. She really shouldn't have been, and is she had, I wouldn't have reacted the way I did.

"Holy Shit, Marinette!" I exclaimed and sat up my hand moving away from my suit. My voice had been stronger then it should have been. I'd startled her as she moved back suddenly, putting her in a position to see the bottle of ketchup that was behind me. She looked at the open bottle and then at where my wound should have been.

"You, you're not hurt?" She asked, although it was pretty obvious that I'd faked my own wound. "You, you lied to me." She made a hiccup sound, the kind someone makes before they're about to start sobbing. "How, how could you do that to me?" She got to her feet and started to run.

"Marinette, wait!" I cried out as I chased her. She'd made it to the streets and as she turned a corner she ran into someone. I leap up landing on a large windowsill, planning on grabbing her, however I froze a moment when I saw who Marinette had run into.

"Watch where you're going!" Chloe Bourgeois yelled before she even saw who hit her. She'd somehow managed to stay on her feet though, which was a feat upon itself.

"I'm sorry." Marinette stated as she looked up seeing Chloe. Chloe has been my friend for more years then not, so I knew the different ways this could go, and I knew the likely one that would occur. I was wrong. Chloe took one look at Marinette's face, and surprisingly the running Mascara. I say surprisingly, because I didn't realize she used make-up at all. She must have been really subtle about it. Before Marinette could run away, Chloe wrapped her arms around her and pulled her in close. I could see Marinette visibly stiffen.

"Are you all right Dupain-Cheng?" She asked. Marinette seemed confused for the moment but she shook her head. "Did someone hurt you?" She asked. Marinette nodded. "Where you attacked?" Marinette shook her head again. "Someone did something to upset you?" A nod. "Do you want to talk about it?" Another head shake. "Do you want me to let you go?" Another head shake. I watched as Chloe stroked her back a little. That was the thing about Chloe, she was terrible at making friends, but she really could be a good friend. She'd been there for me when my mother had vanished and was believed to be dead. Now here she was supporting her worst enemy in a similar way.

"You must really be in bad shape to want me to continue comforting you." Chloe commented. It brought a little laugh from Marinette. After that, the two of them went to a café and sat and talked a little. I tried to listen in, but I heard the main thing I needed to hear. Marinette had been tricked and betrayed by someone she cared about. She didn't go into any more detail, but I already knew them. I wanted to talk to her, to apologize, but I couldn't grab her without Chloe seeing, and I didn't want to take any chance of exposing her secret. Afterwards, Chloe walked her home.

"Well, I'll try to be a little nicer for a few days, but I can't promise anything." Chloe stated at the door. Marinette laughed again.

"Honestly, I never thought I would ever say this, but, thank you Chloe, for being there for me. I really appreciate it." I saw Chloe blush a little. She was a little embarrassed by the positive attention she'd gotten. After Marinette when inside, I jumped to her roof top and the trap door there. I tried to lift it, but it was locked. I wasn't sure if that was normal or not, but during the troublemaker incident, it had been unlocked. I looked through it just in time to see a sheet of paper taped to it.

"GO AWAY CAT NOIR!" was very clearly written on it. I wanted to talk to he, but she didn't want to talk to me. I left.

* * *

 **BREAK**

* * *

The next day at school, I saw Marinette, and she looked terrible. She apparently hadn't slept much the night before. Ayla was concerned about her, and even Chloe was a little. Chloe didn't want to show too much, but I saw her sneak off to speak with her between classed. I, myself, felt terrible, but couldn't bring myself to talk to her. It was my fault she was like this, I knew I needed to do something, but I wasn't Cat Noir right now, so I felt like I couldn't.

Where there was an Akuma attack, she managed to disappear and transformer. I did the same. We fought the Akuma, but the dynamic wasn't the same. She use to believe I would be where I needed to be, so she never worried about it, but now, now she kept looking around, expecting, well I'm not sure what, but I knew it was because she didn't trust me anymore. It broke my heart. When we finished and she fixed everything I tried to talk her, but Ladybug ran off before letting me speak. I realized she wasn't going to let Cat Noir be that close right now. I knew I needed to confront her as Adrien.

"Marinette, can I talk to you?" I asked as people were leaving to get the lunches. Some people would come back to the room to eat, but it was the best place for us to get a little time alone.

"Ah, I um, ah, er. Yesh." She replied nervously. I never really understood why she did this on occasion. Did she really get that nervous around boys? I waited until everyone left before I spoke to her.

"I owe you a big apology." I stated my own nerves flaring up. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach wanting to escape. She looked confused. "I did something horrible to you. I wasn't thinking when I did it." I realized that as much as I knew I needed to talk to her, I'd never actually thought about what I should say to her. "I never should have made you think I was dying." I finished. She looked even more confused by my words, but I could see the gears turning in her head. I opened the shirt that I wore like a jacket to let Plagg come into view. "I'm Cat Noir." I stated. The impact of the words on her were plain on her face.

"You, you, how, how could you." She stated. The impact of what I told her was evident, on the side of my face as she slapped me, extremely hard. "I HATE YOU!" She screamed at me before running away. I started to run after her only to be stopped by both Chloe and Nino. Nino look confused and Chloe, well she was hard to read. She looked upset and happy at the same time. Honestly that was probably because of her usual feelings about Marinette and her current feelings when it came to comforting her.

"Dude, Bro, what did you do to Marinette?" Nino asked.

"You were the one from yesterday Adrikins?" Chloe asked. I just nodded to her. Chloe just shook her head. "You really stepped in it Adrikins, to upset the baker girl that much. I really want to know what you did. Whatever it was, even I feel bad for her."

"Woah." Nino replied looking at Chloe. "What did you do to her dude?"

"I betrayed her trust." Was the only reply I could come up with. To say more could let out a couple of secrets they shouldn't know.

"Man, to get her that Angry at you when she was like wickedly crushing on you, dude that it totally nasty." Nino stated causing me to have a slight panic attack.

"Wait, what." I blathered. "Wickly crushing" I paused. "On me? She has a crush on me?" I asked feeling like I'd just kicked a puppy that had just nuzzled my leg. Also feeling like I was kicked like said same puppy. I'd just kicked myself I guess.

"Looks like it might be more of a had." Chloe replied. "Congratulations Adrien." Damn, it must have been bad if Chloe wasn't pulling any punches on me. I felt absolutely sick. I had thought things couldn't get any worse, but I was wrong.

"AGRESTE!" I heard Ayla yelling from the hallway. I looked at the door to see her charging in. He jumped on the table behind him and started to jump from one to the next trying to get away from her.

* * *

 **BREAK**

* * *

"I don't know what to do Plagg." I stated hours later laying on the couch in my room, nursing a few new bruises. The main one being in the share of Marinette's hand, the rest hidden under my clothes from when Ayla finally caught me. The whole situation might have been funny if not for the pain

"Who would have thought the girl you were in love with was in love with you, and all it took for you to find out was to destroy her trust in you. Way to go Adrien." Plagg commented.

"Ouch, I deserve that." I paused a moment before stating, "I have no idea how to make it up to her." I stated. "I don't suppose anything like this has happened before?"

"Not that I can recall." Plagg remarked.

"So no advice on what I can do?"

"Nope, I got nutthin." Plagg replied.

"Do you think this is one of those times with time will heal the wound?" Plagg just shrugged. I could still hear Marinette's voice echoing in my head " _I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!_ "

"I really screwed up." I stated as I finally let the tears that had been building up start to leak out. I curled up on the couch and fell asleep like that.

* * *

 **Fin.**

I know a horrible place to end, but that's pretty much where these kind of situations lead. You're stuck just sitting there trying to figure out how to fix things. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't. I wonder where Adrien would go from there? Any Ideas?

As far as Hawk Moth not trying to akumatize Marinette I figure he didn't want to risk Adrien's safety.


	4. Chapter 4

Tale 1 – Marinette & Cat Noir in "Flirting"

Tale 2 – Nathalie Sancoeur & Emilie Agreste in Roomates

Tale 3 – Marinette, Cat Noir & Chloe in Betrayal

 **Tale 4 - Adrien Agreste & Marinette in Altered Ladybug (in the spirit of How It Should Have Ended)**

Tale 5 - Cat Noir & Ladybug in "Is it Wrong to Want Revenge After a Funeral?"

Tale 6 - Adrien, Marinette, Nino, Alya, Rose and Juleka in How Truth or Dare Goes Wrong.

* * *

 _ **This is an alternate take on the episode "Ladybug". If you haven't seen it yet, you probably don't want to read this because it'll be confusing.**_

"Adrien, you can't let Marinette be akumatized." Plagg whispered at Adrien from his jacket pocket where the little Kwami tended to reside. Adrien had been strangely curious as to what kind of Akuma Marinette would turn into, if he were being honest about it. She was one of the few students in class to not be akumatized and here she was with her face glowing from Hawk Moth's butterfly. He'd get to see what she turned into, plus he'd get to see the love of his life show up to save her.

"It's not a big deal Plagg." Adrien whispered back. Ladybug would end up undoing the akumatization and everything would be back to normal.

"Trust me, it's a big deal." Plagg insisted.

"How would I even go about stopping it?" Adrien asked. He really didn't' understand why Plagg was so upset.

"Kiss her idiot." Plagg ordered and even crawled around Adrien's jacket to push him towards Marinette.

"What, how is that going to help?" Adrien's whisper was a little panicked. He was standing in front of Marinette now thanks to Plagg. He watched as Marinette started to take off her earings after agreeing to the deal with Scarlett Moth. Plagg gave him one more hard shove and he found his lips resting on Marinette's. Her eyes suddenly went wide. He didn't know what to do, so he wrapped his arms around her and tilted his head to better position his lips. He heard a scream from behind him somewhere, one that sounded like a very angry Lila.

Marinette's eyes closed and he could feel her arms wrap themselves around his head drawing him down. She was most definitely kissing him back. It felt so weird to be kissing his friend like this, but at the same time, it felt really good, like a pleasant warmth had overtaken his body. He couldn't stop himself. He closed his eyes, and he heard other sounds, clapping and cheering. Even with his eyes closed he could tell when the flash of a camera went off, someone had taken a picture. **_What is going on? Why do so many people seem to feel happy?_** He opened his eyes remembering the other's who'd been hit with the scarlet colored butterflies. He pulled his lips from Marinette's but didn't actually let her go. No one was akumatized. **_What? How_**?

"Adrien?" Marinette asked almost like she was in a dream. Her cheeks we flush, why were her checks flush? And the smile on her lips, he'd never seen her smile like that before, but he really wanted to see that smiled from her more. Like with the kiss, it made him feel warm inside.

"Adrien!" Marinette called and pulled him towards the side just as an akumatized Lila attempted to attack them, but even she collapsed to the ground and the butterfly that had infected her left and it's dark energy dissipated on its own. He really didn't understand what had happened, but somehow his kissing Marinette and brought all those who had transformered and were about to transform, back to their senses, well except of Lila, but then he knew Lila didn't like Marinette. Adrien noticed Marinette's mother, Sabine was not longer about to transformer. Then he freaked out remembering when her father Tom and became Weredad and the pain from that confrontation, but even he was smiling at him and Marinette.

"I'm sorry." Adrien spoke softly. "I couldn't think of anything else to do."

"You can kiss me anytime." Marinette cooed like a drunk. "Kiss? Wait, what? You kissed me? Oh my god Adrien kissed me!" She shouted in her more normal spaztastic manner. He couldn't help but chuckle a moment, and then he noticed that Alya was giving Marinette a thumbs up sign. **_Why is she doing that?_**

"Okay you two, break it up." Lila screeched and tried to forcibly part them. Adrien had forgotten he was still embracing Marinette, and she was still embracing him. For all her panic, she hadn't let go of him, and wasn't letting Lila part them. **_I am so confused right now._**

Mr. Damocles cleared his throat and for the first time Marinette looked around and noticed their audience. She pulled away from him and hid her hands behind her back, her face burning with embarrassment, however that smile never left her lips. Lila gave Marinette a dirty look and Adrien turned towards her. He could see the anger his her features.

"Look, if you and I are really friends, you'll find a way to clear this up right now." He whispered to her. She glared at him before realizing what she was doing.

"Fine." She whispered back. She pulled Mr. Damocles away and started to speak to him. Adrien wasn't sure what she was saying, but he'd heard her mentioned something about being Akumatized and not knowing what they were doing by the lockers and that she didn't even remember coming to school.

"I think everything's about to be cleared up." Adrien announced. Marinette nodded happily still smiling. He really liked her smile.

Whatever Lila's story was, it had the desired affect, at least for Adrien. Marinette was no longer in trouble and wouldn't be expelled from school. He'd done his photo shoot after school with Lila. He'd actually wondered why it was his father had asked her to model in his new line, but then again, Lila had an exotic beauty that would help sell fashions.

It was until he went to bed that night that something occurred to him.

"Scarlett Moth asked for Cat Noir's and Ladybug's Miraculouses, like he always does, and Marinette started to take off her earrings." Adrien whispered to himself. "Plagg was panicking about Marinette being akumatized. Why would Marinette be removing her earrings while be akumatized?"

 ** _MY ENDING_**

"Ladybug's Miraculouses are her earrings? If Marinette was taking off her earrings after Scarlet Moth asked for Ladybug's Miraculouses, does that mean that Marinette has Ladybug's Miraculouses. Wouldn't that mean that Marinette is Ladybug and that's why Plagg wanted me to stop her from being akumatized!" Adrien's eyes nearly popped out of his head in surprised. He knew that Plagg would never be able to tell him if his theory was correct, but it made sense. He slipped out of bed.

"Plagg, Claws Out!" He cried and transformed.

A little while later Cat Noir stood on a rooftop near the bakery Marinette's parents ran. He noticed a figure standing on the balcony leaning against the rail. The figure was Marinette dressed in a soft pink baby doll style nightie. She appeared to still be smiling, but also he noticed her running a finger delicately across her lips while she was looking at something on her cell phone. He took the long way around to her building and landing quietly on the roof behind her. He could just see the screen of her phone. She was staring at a photo of Adrien kissing her.

 ** _Wait, is she, is she in love with me?_** He suddenly wondered. He was more then a little naive at times, he knew it, but even he wasn't **_that_** oblivious, that a girl wearing a rather sexy nightie while looking at a picture of herself kissing a boy and gently touching her lips didn't hold some kind of deeper emotional meaning. It would certainly explain the cheering from the girls in class and her smile after he kissed her ** _. If she's Ladybug, and She's in love with me, then that mean's Ladybug is in love with me!_** Cat Noir squealed a little. Marinette whipped around quickly at the noise.

"Cat Noir, what are you doing here?" She asked sounding a little embarrassed, although she didn't try to cover herself since her nightie wasn't made of sheer material. He just stared at her, his heart was beating like crazy, so very crazy. **_She is so beautiful_** , he thought and smiled.

"My Lady, can we talk?" He asked as he took her hand into his and kissed it.

 **The End**

 ** _THE WRITERS PROBABLY ENDING_**

"I guess I'll never be able to figure this out." Adrien remarked as he yawned and pulled the covers over his shoulders and went to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Tale 1 – Marinette & Cat Noir in "Flirting"

Tale 2 – Nathalie Sancoeur & Emilie Agreste in Roomates

Tale 3 – Marinette, Cat Noir & Chloe in Betrayal

Tale 4 - Adrien Agreste & Marinette in Altered Ladybug (in the spirit of How It Should Have Ended)

 **Tale 5 - Cat Noir & Ladybug in "Is it Wrong to Want Revenge After a Funeral?"**

Tale 6 - Adrien, Marinette, Nino, Alya, Rose and Juleka in How Truth or Dare Goes Wrong.

* * *

To say that Cat Noir was angry would be an understatement. He was absolutely livid with his rage. Hawk Moth wouldn't dare try to akumatize him in his current state, as all his anger was directed at the villain and those be a akin to a suicide attempt. Not only had Hawk Moth caused the death of his friend, but he'd also sent both an akuma and amuk to the funeral. Adrien had been there of course, without telling his father. He hadn't wanted to chance his father telling him he couldn't go. In the confusion of the initial attack, he'd slipped away and transformed into Cat Noir. Ladybug showed up at nearly the same time, making Adrien wonder if she'd been watching the funeral, just in case.

The pair stopped Adrien's akumatized classmate as well as the sentimonster that appeared along side of her. Afterwards Ladybug had pulled Cat Noir aside to speak with him with urgency.

"Feed your Kwami and meet me just outside the park." She ordered, her own anger very clear. It didn't surprise him that his lady was angry. He knew she blamed herself for the death that occurred.

It had been about a week prior, when a villain calling herself the River Master had appeared and started to attack Lila Rossi. Adrien had noted that she'd been the focus of a number of akuma attacks recently. Only this time, Ladybug and Cat Noir had been too late, only stopping River Master after she'd killed. When the villian's transformation had ended, Cat Noir recognized her as Marci Lafayette, a young woman who'd joined him and Lila as a model for his father's new line of teen swimwear. Whatever happened afterwards, he had no idea, just that Marci, as River Master had gone after Lila.

"Cat Noir, I beleive I know who Hawk Moth is." Ladybug announced when he'd met up with her. "I'd overheard Lila talking to Marinette about it. She had her suspicions that it was Gabriel Agreste."

"Wait, we already cleared my, um, Mr. Agreste though. Remember when he became the Collector?"

"I do, but I think he'd faked it." She replied. He gave her a questioning look. "We know he currently has Mayura as a partner right?"

"Yes."

"Well what if she's been around for a while, just not as Mayura? She could have been the one that akumatized him to keep suspicions off himself. Maybe his partner was earning the chance to have her own miraculous to use. Maybe they didn't have one for her at the time." Ladybug suggested.

"That's a lot of maybes." Cat Noir responded. Ladybug sighed.

"You know who Adrien Agreste is, right?" Ladybug asked.

"Who doesn't? His face is plastered all over Paris with the modeling his does."

"What I overheard Lila say to Marinette was that Gabriel Agreste, Adrien's father, was having her, Lila, run off any girl that showed interest in in Adrien."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know why, but at one point, Lila attempted to get Marinette expelled from school under the orders of Gabriel Agreste." Cat Noir remembered the incident but didn't say anything. "And as soon as everyone thought Marinette was a thief that had stolen a necklace or Lila's, Hawk Moth had a fleet of akuma's ready to akumatize as many people as possible." Cat Noir nodded again. **_That's true. Those akuma did seem to be there way to fast._** As if reading his mind, "It was as if Hawk Moth had known what was about to happen. At least that started the suspicion in Lila's mind. It was after Marci became River Master she was convinced of it. It was also when she realized that most of the girl's she'd pushed away from Adrien, were mad at her." Ladybug's story wasn't totally a lie, and unfortunately the only one who could call her out on the parts that were a lie, had been murdered.

"So Gabriel Agreste," Ladybug continued, "used Lila to upset girls who wanted to get close to his son, figuring that eventually Lila would be removed from the picture before she figured things out." Cat Noir's anger flared again.

"I was trying to follow the butterfly I cleansed earlier, and it was leading me in the direction of the Agreste Mansion." Ladybug explained. "I couldn't keep up with it though, but since I suspect I know where it's going, I figured we could look into it. I brought these along so we could investigate from a distance." She handed Cat Noir a pair of binoculars. He frowned. **_There is no way father is Hawk Moth right? What Ladybug has suggested does make sense though._** The pair popped out the little ear transmitters that went with their weapons/communicators so they could stay in touch before splitting up to investigate.

"I found Gabriel Agreste and his assistant." Cat Noir spoke softly as he used the binoculars to spy through the window of his father's office. He felt a little relieved to see the two of them, even though it looked as if Nathalie wasn't feeling well. What he witnessed as Ladybug showed up put a tight knot in his stomach. Floating near Nathalie was a kwami that appeared to have a peacock tail. He watched as his father pushed the floating kwami away from Nathalie. The kwami floated a bit away and Cat Noir watched as a second kwami joined it; a kwami with butterfly wings on its back. Gabriel Agreste then removed a broach from Nathalie's shirt and tucked it into the inner pocket of his suit's jacket.

"You look upset." Ladybug commented as she lowered her binoculars.

"I am. If he hadn't tricked us the first time we looked into him, then. . ."His voice hitched in his throat. Ladybug knelt besides him giving him a tight embrace

"I know, I know." She whispered. "I've already contacted the police. They'll be arriving soon." Cat Noir was surprised to hear her statement, but then she was right to call the police. That murder would never had occurred it not for Gabriel Agreste's actions. He needed to be arrested, he needed to go to jail, and so did Nathalie for helping him. The amount of disappointment he felt in them was staggering. He knew his father was a cold man, but Nathalie for all her prim and properness had seemed so warm and caring. For her to be willing to help him after a murder! He felt so betrayed.

* * *

 **A**

* * *

It was hard for Gabriel Agreste to deny being Hawk Moth when the police showed up and Nooroo was still floating around. He didn't even try. As much as Cat Noir wanted to beat on his father for what he'd done, he'd restrained himself. Ladybug on the other hand, didn't. She got in a couple of good punches, even breaking the villain's nose in the process. Cat Noir had to pull her off and hold her back. The officers had all turned away from the scene. He'd heard one whispered. "Nothing to see here." Gabriel Agreste hadn't even tried to defend himself from her. It made Cat Noir wonder if the man actually felt guilty.

Since neither hero had needed to use their special ability thanks to the presence of the police, they had plenty of time to remain in their super hero forms. Cat Noir followed Ladybug until she stopped near the Seine River, just somewhat hidden away. She was waiting for him. When he arrived she removed her earrings. She'd once said that when they defeated Hawk Moth, she'd reveal her identity to him. It seemed she was keeping that promise. As her transformation reversed itself, his eyes welled with tears as they widened. Before he could speak, she placed a finger on his lips to quiet him. She slid that hand down to his and held it before placing her earings into it. She slowly curled his fingers around them.

"These belonged to Marinette." She whispered sadly before turning and walking away from him. He stood there alone, feeling the tears race down his cheeks.

* * *

 **ABOUT A WEEK PRIOR**

* * *

Lila coughed as she forced herself to her feet after washing up on the bank of the Seine River just outside of Paris.

"You didn't have to tackle me into the river Ladybug. I would have been fine but instead I almost drowned, and now my clothes are ruined. I hope you plan on paying for them!" Ladybug had tackled her when River Master had attacked. The akuma was using water as a weapon and had even sent a flash flood along the river. She'd fought against the raging currents caused by said flash flood and finally hit the bank of the river. She'd seen the splash of red with black dots that made up Ladybug's tacky costume, so she knew the heroine was with her.

"Nothing to say Ladybug? That's a first." Lila mocked as she turned back. She felt sick to her stomach at the sight before her eyes. Ladybug hand been nearly bisected at an angle from her right thigh all the way up and across to just under her left shoulder. Only Ladybug's top half had washed up to the bank with her.

Lila wanted a few things when it came to Ladybug. Humiliated, yes. Exposed, sure, Depowered, definitely. She'd never wanted Ladybug dead though, and especially not from saving her.

She could feel her stomach all twisting inside herself, but it was when the transformation ended and she saw whom Ladybug was that Lila collapsed to the ground and regurgitated her previous meal. After a number of dry heaves once her stomach had been emptied, she noticed a small red creature crying over the body. The sound of a large amount of rushing water screamed from the direction of Paris and the creature looked at her.

"Lila, you need to put on the earrings and say, Tikki, spots on." It ordered.

"What, I can't do that, I can't touch her body." Lila stated in horror.

"That akuma is coming for you and there is no one else who can stop it." It explained. Lila swallowed hard. She'd wanted her own miraculous ever since she'd learned of them, but this, this was wrong.

"LILA!" The creature yelled. With tears in her eyes, Lila removed her own earings before taking the one's from the body. She slipped them in place.

"Tikki, spots on." She spoke softly and the transformation took hold of her.

 **THE END.**

* * *

 **NOTES:**

* * *

So I tried to leave clues in her for the readers to pick up on who the funeral was for, so did anyone noticed the clues and figure out the trick?

If you did, just mention "I figured it out it" so we don't spoil it for the readers that come afterwards, assuming you leave a review. This set of stories just doesn't seem to be popular with reviewers and I love getting reviews. Its good to see people are enjoying, or even hating this enough to say so. I appreciate it all.

There have been times when I've read a story or comic where I felt like the writer took things just to far, as in they should have stopped at a certain point. Sometimes that means not getting in everything you hoped. In my case, I felt if I dragged this out any further, it would lose its impact. However a couple notes I didn't' get to fit in.

After Cat Noir would show up at the murder, "ladybug" would mention that Lila had already run off, which Cat Noir wouldn't question because it would be in character for her.

Alya was the funeral attendee who was akumatized, taking Marinette's death the hardest outside of Sabine and Tom.

And yes the reason tears welled up in Cat Noir's eyes when "ladybug" de transformed was because he realized exactly what had happened.

Well Peace and Love All!

And as always, reviews are welcomed!


	6. Chapter 6

Tale 1 – Marinette & Cat Noir in "Flirting"

Tale 2 – Nathalie Sancoeur & Emilie Agreste in Roomates

Tale 3 – Marinette, Cat Noir & Chloe in Betrayal

Tale 4 - Adrien Agreste & Marinette in Altered Ladybug (in the spirit of How It Should Have Ended)

Tale 5 - Cat Noir & Ladybug in "Is it Wrong to Want Revenge After a Funeral?"

 **Tale 6 - Adrien, Marinette, Nino, Alya, Rose and Juleka in How Truth or Dare Goes Wrong.**

* * *

As the bottle spun, Marinette, Adrien, Rose, Juleka, Nino and Alya watched from their seats around the dinning table at Rose's apartment. The bottle pointed at Adrien and Nino grinned. It was one of the rare times Adrien had an afternoon off and his father allowed him hang out with friends after school, and Nino took the opportunity to suggest a game of truth or dare.

"I am so glad we're not playing spin the bottle." Adrien stated looking at Nino.

"Dude, why you gotta be like that?"

"Because of all the onions you had on your burger. Was there any meat at all or was it just an onion patty. I can smell your breath from here." The girls laughed. Nino breathed in his own hand to get a whiff of his breath and gagged on it.

"Oh dude, that is nasty. Anyone got a breath mint?" Julek, Rose and Alya all handed him one.

"Yeah, you better eat all of them or you won't be kissing me tonight either." Alya threatened. Nino popped all three in his mouth, as the other's laughed. "Besides Mr. Agreste, can you imagine how jealous the other boys in class would be to find out you were playing spin the bottle with a four in five chance to kiss a gorgeous girl?"

"That is until they realized there was a one in five chance to kiss the onion dragon over there." Adrien replied pointing at Nino, who ignored it and continued with the game.

"So anyway my dude, truth or dare?"

"I guess I'll go with truth." Adrien replied.

"Okay, so who was the first girl to tell you _I love you_? And Chloe doesn't count."

"Actually I don't think Chloe has actually even said that to me, as much as she assaults, I mean flirts with me." He smiled and the girls laughed, well except Marinette. "But it was Marinette who did." He replied and realized his mistake when the entire group lets out a series of gasps. He imagined the sound of the needle on a turntable scratching along a vinyl record. Adrien had been so distracted with trying to clear up the Chloe thing, that he'd forgotten Marinette had confessed to Cat Noir, not Adrien Agreste. He needed cover and he needed cover quickly. "At least it kind of sounded like that, you know how she gets all tongue tied and says random stuff, it sort of sounded like she was saying I love with you this one time or it could have been I love mules, which I figured she could have been talking about footwear." He voice took on a slightly higher pitch and speed.

"Hold on, you mean to tell me it sounded like she confessed to you and you ignored it." He heard Alya say, however the lighter voice of Rose sounded in the undercurrent of Alya's irritated one and his mind was slow to process what Rose had just said.

"When you put it that way it really sounds like a jerk thing to, wait a minute, did you just say Marinette's **_been_** in love with me?" He looked directly at Rose who suddenly looked like she was about to have a panic attack. His gaze swung over to Marinette, his eyes widening to the point of being painful. Marinette for her part had her head down and her hands hiding her face, but Adrien could see the heat of embarrassment in the blush taking over her ears. Everyone had gone silent. Adrien grabbed the bottle and gave it a spin, stopping it when it pointed at Marinette.

"Truth Marinette, are you in love with me?" He asked in a moment where his reactions were faster then his thinking. Still, the moment the words came out of his mouth and he realized what he'd said and done. He started to speak again to tell her not to answer, or he tried to. A pair of dark skinned hands had wrapped around his mouth to stop him. As he went to lift his arms to pull them away, another set of hands grabbed him from the right and a third from the left, immobilizing him in a tight two-sided hug of death. He looked at Nino, pleading with his eyes to help, but Nino looked panicked now as well, caught between his loyalty to his best friend and his girlfriend.

"You are not going to ruin this moment, Agreste. I have been waiting for a long time for her to say this to you." Alya whispered in his ear even as Marinette mumbled something from behind her hands. "What was that?" Alya asked Marinette who mumbled a little louder. "Still can't here you girl."

"I said, I'm in love with Adrien and have been for a long time but didn't want to say anything because he's seeing Kagami!" She yelled as she looked up with an angry expression on her delicate features. That expression softened when she saw Adrien struggling against the three girls, making it obvious that they were keeping him from stopping her from answering. As if all were thinking the same thing at the same time, Alya, Rose and Juleka released him. Adrien seemed to slump slightly and more words poured from his mouth before he had time to even think about what he was saying.

"I wish I'd known earlier." Adrien quickly covered his own mouth wishing he had the Snake Miraculous right now. A five-minute second chance would have been the most wonderful power to have in that moment. Marinette, still red from her initial embarrassment stared at Adrien. Adrien turning both red and green stared at Marinette. No one spoke for what seemed an eternity. Finally the silence was broken.

"I think maybe I should go." Adrien's voice betrayed the distress he felt in that moment.

"No, no, no. I should go." Marinette countered.

"No, you guys don't need to." Alya cried out, feeling guilty for her part in the awkward moment. She hadn't expected the answer would have hurt her friends, but she'd forgotten that Adrien had started seeeing Kagami. She just wanted Marinette to finally tell him how she felt.

"It'll be weird if I'm still here." Adrien countered. "I'm sorry for bringing the group down like this." He stood up and grabbed his bag off the floor.

"No, yes, well I mean, I should leave too." Marinette managed. "No matter which of us stays, it'll be weird for everyone." She also grabbed her backpack.

"I'm, I'm so sorry." Alya apologized softly, her voice weaker then anyone had ever heard it before.

"See you guys at school on Monday." Adrien stated and opened the door to walk out.

"It was fun earlier." Marinette remarked. "I'm sorry about this." She too walked out and ended up joining Adrien on the Elevator for the trip to ground level. They stood in awkward silence until the ding let them know the doors were opening on their destined floor. The pair slipped out of the elevator, through the lobby and onto the street. Adrien headed for the car that was waiting with the Gorilla still in the driver's seat, reading a comic book.

"Would you. . . "Adrien started to ask, but Marinette held up her hand to stop him and shook her head. She turned away and walked down the sidewalk in the direction of her parent's bakery. Adrien slipped into the back of the car and sighed.

"You really screwed up this time." He said to himself. The truth was, he wasn't even sure why he'd said that last part to her. Why did he wish he'd known sooner? He'd always just thought of her as a friend, so why did her confession hurt so much? He wished he could talk to his father about girls and love, but his dad barely spoke to him about anything. Besides, he really didn't think speaking to his father would help. Nathalie, as much as he liked her, would tell his father, since she was first and foremost Gabriel Agreste's personal assistant and that would probably cause even more problems for him. The Gorilla couldn't actually talk, so he was out of the question, and frankly Plagg was, well Plagg. Suddenly Adrien had never felt so alone in all his life.

 **The End.**

* * *

 **NOTES**

* * *

Just a quick short story before I start writing another long one. I know, people either love or hate the Truth or Dare stories, but I wanted to write this one, because to be honest, every one I've seen previously has them either admitting their feelings and getting together, or revealing their identities. I wanted to do something different. I didn't want them to get together in this one, and I liked the idea of Adrien being confused about his feelings.

I thought about having him think of Asking Kagami about it because I do think he'd consider that option, but I really didn't want to do it since it would be such a horrible thing to do to your girlfriend. "Hey Kagami, Marinette confessed to me, and it made my heart hurt, what do you think that means?"

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the amusing yet ultimately a downer short story. I might do an addition to this later. I have a vague idea of doing part of this from Marinette's perspective.

 **Peace and Love!**


End file.
